Change the Way You Think About BYOD

“Bring Your Own Device” has become a hot phrase thrown around in many small to mid-size businesses.

With the increase in the computing capabilities of mobile technology, many employees today are finding it less and less important to work in the typical office space. In fact, 3 out of 5 workers believe that their presence in the office is not necessary to have a productive day at work.

This is why a lot of businesses are beginning to incorporate a BYOD policy within their organizational structure. Some are skeptical, however, that moving daily business tasks to their employee’s phones, tablets and laptops might compromise sensitive data.

This fear is warranted, especially when many businesses are falling victim to massive cyberattacks.

What if there was a way to have a BYOD policy, and still minimize the risk of losing precious company data?

This model explains why a minority of the population controls the majority of wealth.

Looking beyond economic reasoning, the 80/20 rule can easily be applied to each of your departments, regarding your BYOD policy, saving your company a lot of money in the long term.

Segmenting Access

It can be scary thinking that if only one of your employees’ devices is compromised, your entire business could be at risk. Chances are that not every employee needs access to your company’s sensitive data. Using the 80/20 rule, grant access to your sensitive files to only the employees that need it. You will find that only a small amount of individuals need full access, which means you really only need to prioritize protecting that small minority’s devices.

Following this rule cuts back on the additional security and monitoring costs needed to keep these devices safe, ensuring that you are not overspending on unnecessary security measures.

Promoting Time Management

Another issue that BYOD policies present is employee’s wasting time. When working remote, it is very easy to stray from what you should be working on. As such, the 80/20 rule could come in handy to help promote time management. If it holds true that 80 percent of your work comes as a result of 20 percent of your time, it is imperative that each employee allocates that 20 percent to the fullest.

As long as your employees dedicate 20 percent of their time to their most important tasks, your mobile workforce will stay productive. It’s hard to avoid certain periods of downtime and distraction, so this rule makes it much easier to visualize and accomplish the most important tasks without feeling overwhelmed.

Revamping Security Measures

Even if you give only 20 percent of your employees access to your most sensitive data, you still need to protect this minority from cyberthreats. In the unfortunate event that these users are compromised, it could mean devastating effects for your business. For these individuals, it might be a good idea to splurge on security to ensure that their devices are completely protected.

Mobile device management software (MDM) may be the best course of action for protecting your employee’s devices. This software enables IT teams to monitor and implement security settings on each of the devices that connect to company networks. Though this can be a bit pricey, it ensures that every device with sensitive data is accounted for, updated, backed up and safe from those who wish to compromise your data.

The 80/20 rule can be applied in many areas of today’s society, most particularly in the business world. This model can have a positive impact on each of your departments when it comes to implementing new changes. A Bring Your Own Device policy can create a lot of headache, but if you look at the policy through this simple perspective, you might find yourself saving time and money.